China on Tuesday issued a white paper on national defense elaborating
on its new security challenges in peacetime and the employment of armed
forces to cope with them.
The document, the eighth of its kind
issued by the Chinese government since 1998, warns that the Asia-Pacific
region has become an increasingly significant stage for world economic
development and strategic interaction between major powers.
“The
United States is adjusting its Asia-Pacific security strategy, and the
regional landscape is undergoing profound changes,” the paper said.
The paper warns that China still faces multiple and complicated security threats and challenges.
The
issues of subsistence and development security and traditional and
non-traditional threats to security are interwoven, the document says.
“Therefore
China has an arduous task to safeguard its national unification,
territorial integrity and development interests,” it says.
MAIN SECURITY CONCERNS
The paper lists several major security concerns of China.
Some
country has strengthened its Asia-Pacific military alliances, expanded
its military presence in the region, and frequently makes the situation
there tenser, the paper says.
On the issues concerning China’s
territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, some
neighboring countries are taking actions that complicate or exacerbate
the situation, and
Japan is making trouble over the issue of the Diaoyu Islands, it says.
The
threats posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism, are on the rise
while serious natural disasters, security accidents and public health
incidents keep occurring.
“Factors affecting social harmony and
stability are growing in number, and the security risks to China’s
overseas interests are on the increase,” it says.
COMMITMENT TO PEACE
In face of such challenges, China reiterates its commitment to peaceful development.
China
advocates a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual
benefit, equality and coordination, and pursues comprehensive security,
common security and cooperative security, the white paper says.
“China
will never seek hegemony or behave in a hegemonic manner, nor will it
engage in military expansion,” the white paper says.
According to
the document, China will build a strong national defense and powerful
armed forces which are “commensurate with China’s international standing
and meet the needs of its security and development interests.”
The
basic duty of the armed forces is to fight wars and its peacetime
mission is to prepare for wars, said Wu Xihua, a senior officer with the
PLA General Staff Headquarters, at a press conference held here Tuesday
morning, adding that no
army can be exempted from this duty.
“Chinese
armed forces focus on protecting the country’s sovereignty and security
when it highlights capacity building under the principle of being able
to fight a war and win a war,” Wu said. “This is a reasonable and normal
move.”
But the country always sticks to peaceful settlement of
international disputes and solving problems with neighboring countries
through dialogue, he said.
PEACETIME MISSION
The
paper elaborates on the country’s diversified employment of the armed
forces to cope with new security challenges at times of peace.
Besides
implementing a defensive military strategy and winning local wars under
the conditions of informationization, the armed forces are employed to
effectively conduct military operations other than war and fulfill
international obligations, according to the paper.
“China’s armed
forces adapt themselves to the new changes of security threats, and
emphasize the employment of armed forces in peacetime,” it says.
The
employment of armed forces responds to China’s core security needs and
aims to maintain peace, contain crises and win wars, according to the
paper.
Chinese armed forces are employed to safeguard borders,
coastal and territorial air security and they will strengthen
combat-readiness and combat-oriented exercises and drills, it says.
And
they will readily respond to and resolutely deter any provocative
action which undermines China’s sovereignty, security and territorial
integrity.
TRANSPARENCY MOVE
In this paper, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for the first time reveals the actual number of army, navy and
air force servicemen, designations of its army combined corps and the main missile lineup.
China
now has about 850,000 army servicemen in 18 combined corps and
additional independent combined operational divisions (brigades),
according to the paper.
The combined corps, composed of divisions and brigades, are respectively under seven military area commands.
Currently,
the PLA Navy has a total strength of 235,000 officers and men, and
commands three fleets — the Beihai Fleet, the Donghai Fleet and the
Nanhai Fleet.
The PLA Air Force now has about 398,000 officers and
men and an air command in each of the seven military area commands of
Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. In
addition, it boasts one airborne corps.
The PLA Second Artillery
Force, the country’s core force for strategic deterrence, is composed of
nuclear and conventional missile forces and operational support units,
according to the paper.
It is equipped with a series of “Dong Feng” ballistic missiles and “Chang Jian” cruise missiles.
It also has under its command missile bases,
training bases, specialized support units, academies and research institutions.
